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Mental     Control    Through 

Rhythmical  Influence  in  the 

Learning  of  Typewriting 


BY 


A.  B.  CROSIER 


DEPARTMENT    SCHOOL   ACCOUNTANCY   AND    SECRETARIAL 
WORK   OF   COMMERCE    AND     BUSINESS     ADMINIS- 
TRATION,     UNIVERSITY     OF     MISSISSIPPI 


;THERN  F^ANir 


-■    4r!^779 


THE  GREGG  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  BOSTON  SAN    FRANCISCO 

LONDON 


,ii}u^iij^ 


AT 

:MARY 


V       - 


COPYRIGHT,    I921,   BY 
THE    GREGG    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 


C58 


C  ^  "^  '^'^ 


FOREWORD 

THE  object  of  this  pamphlet  is  to 
pass  on  to  those  who  are  inter- 
ested in  typewriting  work,  some  of  the 
things  that  I  have  learned  about  type- 
writing during  the  past  twenty  years, 
while  engaged  in  college  and  university 
work. 

While  the  principles  advocated  may 
not  be  entirely  new,  and  some  of  the 
subject  matter  is  but  a  modified  form 
of  what  has  gone  before,  my  observa- 
tion leads  me  to  believe  that  neither 
is  quite  fully  understood,  nor  generally 
used. 

For  this  reason,  I  submit  what  has 
proved  its  worth,  in  the  hope  that  it 
may  be  found  of  practical  value. 

A.  B.  Crosier 


MENTAL  CONTROL  THROUGH 
RHYTHMICAL  INFLUENCE  IS 
THE  SECRET  OF  TOUCH  TYPE- 
WRITING 

THERE  is  nothing  strangely  new 
about  the  principles  involved  in 
the  subject  I  have  set  before  me  to 
discuss.  Mental  Control  is  more  or 
less  perfectly  understood  to  mean  the 
power  of  mind  to  govern  physical  con- 
duct in  an  act  of  self-expression;  and 
rhythmical  influence,  stated  broadly,  is 
the  playing  out  of  this  energy  in  such 
a  way  as  to  maintain  a  balanced  state, 
or  poise,  of  mind  that  induces  uniform 
control  of  physical  movements  of  the 
body. 

But   the   great   teaching   problem   is, 

how   to    impress    an    already    acquired 

general  knowledge  of  the  principles  on 

a  student's    mind  in  such  a  way  that 

5 


6  Mental  Control 

he  may  employ  these  principles  to  his 
own  advantage  while  learning  to  type- 
write by  touch.  The  object  of  all  edu- 
cation, as  I  understand  it,  is  to  teach 
one  to  think  straight,  logically^  accu- 
rately, and  in  sequence.  To  accomplish 
this  end,  no  small  amount  of  pa- 
tience and  an  intimate  co-operation 
between  students  and  teacher  is  neces- 
sary. What  applies  to  all  education, 
naturally  enough,  includes  the  art  of 
typewriting,  because  typewriting  is  a 
mental  act  —  a  natural  mode  oj  self- 
expression. 

Now,  to  get  the  right  perspective,  let 
us  assume  that  each  individual  is  the 
center  of  the  universe,  in  so  far  as  his 
individual  life  is  concerned.  His  chief 
concern  is  to  know  how  to  relate  his 
life  to  other  lives  about  him,  and  to 
impress  his  personality  upon  environ- 
ment, in  order  to  get  the  most  possible 
out  of  life.  This  is  accompHshed  through 
mental  control.     For  instance,  he  sets 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence         j 

up  an  ideal  in  his  mind  and  develops  a 
mind  picture;  but  the  object  desired 
is  remote,  with  many  intervening  ob- 
jects to  block  the  way.  If  the  impres- 
sion in  his  mind  is  vivid  enough,  and 
his  desire  to  attain  it  ardent  enough, 
he  will  set  about  to  remove  these  inter- 
vening objects  that  block  his  way,  and 
manifest  it.  The  methods  by  which 
that  thing  may  be  attained  are  so  vari- 
ant that  care  must  be  exercised  to  know 
which  of  the  many  methods  is  the  right 
one  to  employ,  and  before  we  are  in 
position  to  make  such  decision,  we  must 
take  into  consideration  the  different 
types  of  mind  to  be  impressed.  In  a 
general  way,  the  different  mentalities 
may  be  classified  into  three  groups: 
(i)  Those  minds  that  are  acutely  active 
in   their   reaction   to   mental   stimulus; 

(2)  those  that  are  neither  acutely  ac- 
tive   nor    sluggish    in    their    reaction; 

(3)  those  whose  reactions  are  sluggish, 
even  to  a  point  of  dullness.    Therefore, 


8  Mental  Control 

about  all  a  teacher  can  do  is  to  strike 
a  happy  medium  that  is  all-inclusive. 

MENTAL    CONTROL 

Now,  let  us  reason  together  about 
this  Mental  Control. 

As  was  previously  stated,  the  mind 
must  conceive  a  thing  —  set  up  an 
ideal  and  visionize  it  —  before  the  in- 
dividual, with  any  degree  of  certainty, 
can  manifest  it.  The  time  required  to 
manifest  any  conception  of  possible 
manifestation,  is  conditioned  upon  (i) 
the  natural  ability  of  the  individual; 
(2)  the  number  of  obstacles  between 
the  individual  and  the  object  of  his 
desire  to  be  overcome;  and  (3)  a  de- 
termined will  to  persist,  under  proper 
direction,  until  the  object  shall  have 
been  attained.  Thus,  in  typewriting, 
after  a  student  gets  a  clear  conception 
of  what  he  desires  to  accomplish,  all 
that  remains  to  be  done  is  to  co-ordinate 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence        9 

the  physical  part  of  his  body  (the  hands) 
involved  in  such  act  of  self-expression 
with  the  mental  impulse,  to  manifest  in 
concrete  form  the  finished  page.  Thus, 
it  follows  logically  that  his  hands  are 
inseparably  connected  with  his  brain 
impulse;  and,  when  his  brain  thinks, 
his  hands  automatically  and  sympa- 
thetically respond  to  that  impulse  in  an 
act  of  writing. 

For  the  sake  of  name,  let  us  call  this 
process  autosuggestion.  Just  how  this 
power  of  autosuggestion  is  developed  in 
typewriting,  I  shall  try  to  set  out  clearly 
when  presentation  method  is  reached. 

RHYTHMICAL    INPLUENCE 

Then,  let  us  inquire  what  is  meant  by 
Rhythmical  Influence. 

Broadly  stated,  rhythm  signifies  sym- 
metry, proportion,  and  division;  and 
it  suggests  action  that  conforms  to  the 
laws  of  co-ordinated  movement.    Rhyth- 


10  Mental  Control 

mical  adjustment  naturally  divides  it- 
self into  multiples  of  three  and  four, 
with  an  accent  on  the  first  count;  as 
in  three-four  and  in  four-four  time  in 
musical  rhythm.  In  typewriting  it  is 
any  characteristic  arrangement  of  letters 
in  a  word,  corresponding  to  the  number 
of  letters  in  that  word. 

From  its  operation,  I  judge  rhythm 
to  be  a  force  or  vibration  that  main- 
tains a  state  of  stable  equihbrium  of  the 
object  it  influences.  As  to  just  what 
this  force  is,  I  am  not  clear.  Neither 
do  I  know  what  electricity,  magnetism, 
gravity,  are.  But  this  much  does  seem 
clear  to  an  observing  mind:  that  all 
matter  is  subject  to  this  rhythmical  in- 
fluence, this  wavelike  recurrence,  the 
frequency  of  which  is  conditioned  upon 
the  object  influenced.  Not  only  are  the 
less  stable  forms  of  matter,  as  air  and 
water,  subject  to  its  influence,  and  exert 
an  influence  on  all  other  forms  of  matter, 
but  each  particle  of  matter  has  its  own 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence       il 

rate  of  vibration  which  may  be  influ- 
enced by  some  external  vibration.  Take 
as  an  illustration:  A  dog  trotting  across 
a  bridge  at  a  uniform  pace  will  set  the 
whole  structure  in  motion.  Soldiers  ap- 
proaching a  bridge  are  required  to 
break  step  to  prevent  vibration  that 
might  cause  the  bridge  to  collapse- 
Again,  it  has  been  said  that  a  single 
sustained  tone  from  a  violin  that  cor- 
responds to  the  keynote  of  a  large  build- 
ing, if  persisted  in,  would  wreck  the 
building.  And  again,  a  moving  train 
sets  up  a  vibration  that  may  cause  win- 
dows miles  away  to  rattle,  and  further, 
heavy  speculators  not  infrequently 
closet  themselves  for  a  few  minutes  at 
the  beginning  of  each  business  day  and 
allow  their  minds  to  drift  till  the}'-  catch 
up  the  financial  current  of  thought, 
before  entering  upon  their  daily 
tasks. 

We    can    see   the   operation    of  this 
rhythmical    influence    all    about    us    in 


12  Mental  Control 

nature.  What  would  happen  if  the 
planets  did  not  maintain  their  uniform 
rhythmical  movements?  We  expect  to 
see  change  of  seasons  come  around  about 
the  same  time  each  year.  The  moon, 
the  tide,  night  and  day,  return  of  hunger 
and  sleep,  the  pulse  beat,  respiration  — 
in  fact,  everything  is  under  the  influence 
of  this  force.  Then,  why  should  not  the 
mind  be  under  the  same  influence?  And 
further,  is  it  unreasonable  to  assume 
that  the  mind  has  its  own  rate  of  vi- 
bration, and  that  this  rate  may  be 
changed,  and  is  changed  through  edu- 
cative influences? 

Granted  that  this  suggestion  holds 
true  to  fact,  the  teacher's  greatest  prob- 
lem in  presenting  the  subject  of  type- 
writing (or  any  other  subject,  for  that 
matter,  that  involves  physical  conduct) 
is  to  put  this  notion  clearly  into  the 
student's  mind,  that  he  may  have  a 
definite,  specific  understanding  how  to 
proceed  in  order  to  get  the  most  out 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence       13 

of  his  work.  From  the  outset  teach 
him  to  measure  his  movements,  not  by 
some  external  impulse,  but  by  silently 
counting  out  his  operations.  By  such 
method,  the  rhythmical  impulse  origi- 
nates in  his  mind,  and  leads  him  to  give 
himself  over  completely  to  that  thing  for 
the  time  being.  This  rhythmical  habit 
develops  slowly  at  first,  but  in  a  rela- 
tively short  time,  autosuggestion  takes 
control  of  his  mental  processes;  and  as 
speed  increases,  his  movements  auto-  i 
matically  adjust  to  new  conditions  as 
his  mind  center  changes.  In  the  course 
of  time,  his  entire  conscious  mental 
energy  is  directed  to  the  subject  matter 
in  an  act  of  self-expression  with  little 
or  no  thought  of  his  physical  movements.,,^ 

Now  that  I  have  expressed  my 
views  regarding  these  pre-approach 
principles,  let  us  take  up  a  discus- 
sion of  how  these  principles  apply 
in  training  students  to  do  touch  type- 
writing. 


14  Mental  Control 

METHOD 

When  the  student  has  been  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  care  and  adjust- 
ment of  his  machine,  he  is  told  how  to 
assume  a  rhythmical  position  before  his 
machine: 

Body  supported  at  the  hips,  and 
slightly  inclined  forward;  feet  flat  upon 
the  floor,  forearms  extended  about  on 
a  level  with  the  shift  key,  elbows  very 
slightly  extended,  the  wrists  elevated 
just  a  little;  the  knuckles  lowered,  and 
the  fingers  arched,  as  in  piano  playing; 
the  Httle  fingers  resting  on  *'a"  and  **;'* 
and  the  first,  second,  and  third  fingers 
of  both  hands  hovering  lightly  over 
the  adjoining  keys  "Ikj  sdf."  In  such 
position,  he  can  make  free  use  of  the 
finger  tips  to  exercise  control  over  any 
character  on  the  keyboard.  And,  too, 
his  body  is  perfectly  poised  in  a  rhyth- 
mical state. 

It    sometimes    happens    that    a    stu- 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence       15 

dent  who  has  employed  the  "hunt  and 
pick"  method  in  learning  comes  in. 
The  only  possible  way  to  align  him  up 
rightly  is  to  treat  him  as  a  beginner.  In 
fact,  he  demands  more  personal  atten- 
tion than  a  beginner,  because  incorrect 
habits  of  expression  can  be  controlled 
only  by  new  correct  habits  that  are 
strong  enough  to  keep  the  old  ones 
under  control.  Typing,  as  in  all  ex- 
pressions involving  physical  movements, 
demands  complete  conservation  in  each 
movement.  Otherwise  there  is  lost  mo- 
tion and  a  consequent  loss  in  efficiency. 

Lost  motion  also  is  very  apparent 
when  he  disregards  a  rotary  movement 
of  hand  in  throwing  the  carriage  back 
and  in  the  use  of  fumbling  movements 
to  insert  the  paper  in  his  machine.  But 
the  faulty  habits  are  corrected  without 
much  difficulty  by  a  little  timely  super- 
vision. 

Now  that  the  preliminary  has  been 
cleared    away,   the   student   is   brought 


l6  Mental  Control 

face  to  face  with  his  first  co-ordination 
drill:  "jhfg,  fgjh,  juyj,  frtf,  jmnj,  fvbf." 
These  symbols  are  chosen  because  they 
call  into  action  the  index  fingers,  about 
which  the  mind  has  centered  since 
infancy  in  pointing  to  objects,  or  in 
picking  up  things.  Consequently,  men- 
tal control  has  been  acquired  uncon- 
sciously. For  this  reason  they  are 
given  double  duty  to  perform.  This 
simple  drill  affords  a  splendid  oppor- 
tunity to  impress  upon  his  mind  from 
the  beginning  the  importance  of  rhyth- 
mical influence,  by  having  him  measure 
out  his  operations  to  very  slow  count- 
ing. By  such  method,  the  impulse  to 
influence  the  brain  originates  in  the 
brain,  and  hence  is  more  effective  than 
some  external  impulse  picked  up  from 
a  metronome,  for  instance.  In  all  prac- 
tice work,  insist  that  he  watch  the  copy, 
not  his  hands,  while  operating.  This 
drill  is  used  until  he  works  out  a  per- 
fect page.     By  the  time  this  is  done,  he 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence       ly 

is  beginning  to  think  of  the  characters 
collectively,  in  groups,  rather  than  as 
isolated  symbols  In  short,  he  has  put 
into  his  mind  a  nucleus  of  typing  expe- 
rience around  which  to  build  larger  ex- 
periences as  the  work  progresses. 

Then,  he  is  taught  to  translate  this 
group  thinking  into  words,  as,  "jug, 
fur,  but,  buy,  rug,  thumb,  untruth," 
which  give  him  power  to  express  the 
knowledge  gained,  in  concrete  form. 
(A  perfect  page  of  this  drill  is  required.) 

In  order  to  facilitate  development  of 
muscles  engaged  to  do  writing,  the  fol- 
lowing finger  drills  (to  be  practiced 
twenty  or  thirty  minutes  daily  outside 
of  class)  are  suggested.  Just  before  go- 
ing to  bed  is  the  best  time  to  do  these 
drills,  for  the  reason  that  the  subcon- 
scious mind  works  over  the  impres- 
sions, during  sleeping  hours. 

Before  taking  up  this  practice  he 
should  make  a  chart  of  the  keyboard, 
to  fasten  to  his  study  table.     On  this 


1 8  Mental  Control 

chart  should  be  two  small  circles  for 
thumb  rests  about  where  the  space  bar 
of  the  machine  would  come.  This  chart 
is  to  be  used  with  Drills  I  and  II.  In 
Drills  III  and  IV  the  forearms  should 
not  touch  a  table. 

An  interval  of  one  second  should  be 
used  for  each  count. 

Drill  I.  Place  both  hands  in  writing  position,  as 
instructed,  fingers  arched  and  knuckles  low.  Begin- 
ning with  the  index  finger  of  the  right  hand,  on  count 
one,  raise  in  curved  position  as  high  as  possible;  lower 
on  count  two;  on  count  three  raise,  and  lower  on 
count  four.  Do  the  same  exercise  with  the  second, 
third,  and  little  fingers.  Go  through  the  same  drill 
with  the  left  hand  while  the  right  hand  is  held  in 
writing  position.  Then,  repeat  with  both  hands  in 
unison. 

Drill  II.  Put  hands  in  writing  position,  as  above. 
On  count  one,  spread  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand 
just  as  far  apart  as  possible  while  the  fingers  remain 
in  curved  position.  Close  on  count  two.  Open  on 
three,  and  close  on  fourth  count.  Do  the  same  way 
with  the  left  hand  while  the  right  hand  is  held  in 
writing  position.  Then  repeat  with  both  hands  in 
unison. 

Drill  III.  Extend  the  forearms  to  writing  posi- 
tion, with  wrists  about  on  alignment  with  the  arms, 
but  keep  the  knuckles  lowered.     Then  separate  the 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence       19 

fingers  and  thumbs  as  widely  as  possible;  throw 
fingers  back,  and  grip  the  hand  into  shape  of  a  bird's 
claws.  But  use  care  not  to  close  the  hand;  don't 
close  the  fingers  into  the  palms,  but  hold  them  apart 
and  rigidly  curved  while  you  ,grip  as  tightly  as  you 
can.  Hold  this  position  till  you  count  four,  and  relax 
on  fifth  count. 

Drill  IV.  Forearms  extended  as  above.  On 
count  one,  throw  the  palms  out  and  the  finger  tips 
back;  on  count  two,  close  the  first  and  second  joints 
of  the  fingers  and  the  first  joint  of  the  thumbs.  Draw 
the  finger  tips  against  the  fingers  above  the  knuckle 
joints  just  as  firmly  as  possible  and  hold  the  thumb 
L  shaped  and  extended.  On  the  third  count,  while 
holding  the  fingers  in  this  rigid  condition,  close  the 
hand  perfectly  tight,  as  if  in  an  act  of  hitting  some- 
thing. On  count  four,  still  holding  the  fingers  rigid, 
return  to  position  of  a  bird's  claws,  when  in  an  act  of 
seizing  something. 


OBJECT   OF    DRILLS 

What  are  we  accomplishing  in  these 
drills?  A  conscious  rhythmical  control 
over  the  writing  muscles;  that  stimu- 
lates wonderfully  mental  control  over 
finger  movements.  Both  of  these,  es- 
sential in  doing  rapid  and  accurate 
typing  work,  soon  sink  into  the  auto- 
matic, thus  leaving  the  full  conscious 


20  Mental  Control 

mental  energy  to  be  expended  in  inter- 
pretation. In  fact,  his  thinking  and 
acting  are  as  one. 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  this 
oneness  can  be  accomplished  without 
prolonged  and  patient  practice.  Far 
from  that.  The  things  of  life  that  are 
worth  while  require  time  and  effort  to 
attain.  But  what  I  do  contend  is,  if 
this  rhythmical  mental  control  idea  is 
once  understood  and  put  into  practice, 
he  will  go  much  faster,  and  much  farther; 
and  with  infinitely  more  versatility  and 
ease,  than  he  would  be  able  to  do 
without  such  influence.  It  conforms 
to  nature,  and  her  rhythmical  laws; 
hence,  it  is  basic. 

How  do  I  know  that  a  student  has 
grasped  the  big  idea? 

I  judge  from  his  finished  work,  in  the 
same  way  that  an  experienced  mind 
would  judge  the  quality  of  English  from 
spoken  or  written  words.  There  is  but 
one    standard    in    typewriting    that    is 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence      21 

worth  while  —  perfect  work,  technique, 
placement,  balance.  This  fact  is  early 
impressed  on  the  student's  mind.  He 
naturally  sets  up  a  high  ideal,  or  stand- 
ard. Further,  the  importance  of  doing 
this  is  constantly  suggested  to  him  by 
notations  on  his  manuscript.  These 
notations  tend  to  drive  home  the  princi- 
ples that  we  want  him  to  get.  Step  by 
step  mental  control  is  acquired;  and 
what  is  most  encouraging  of  all,  the 
mind  and  hands  co-ordinate  so  sympa- 
thetically that  as  the  mind  center 
changes  (as  it  does  from  day  to  day) 
an  automatic  readjustment  takes  place 
without  conscious  effort,  and  speed  with 
accuracy  maintains  regardless  of  the 
nature  of  the  subject  matter  he  may  be 
writing.  On  the  other  hand,  if  this 
conclusion  is  not  true,  why  does  the 
penmanship,  as  taught  in  the  grades  by 
a  drawing  method,  go  all  to  pieces  when 
the  student  puts  himself  to  the  test  in 
written  expression,  when  he  gets  along 


22  Mental  Control 

to  high  school  or  college  work?  To  my 
way  of  thinking  he  had  not  been  taught 
the  importance  of  mental  control  under 
rhythmical  influence;  and  when  his 
mind  center  changed  there  did  not  exist 
proper  mind  and  hand  co-ordination. 

When  the  student  has  covered  about 
five  or  six  lessons  in  his  text,  a  daily 
review  from  the  beginning  of  ten  high 
frequency  words,  singly  and  in  series, 
is  taken  up;  these  ten  words  are  placed 
on  a  chart  in  the  front  of  the  room. 
First  each  word  is  timed  one  minute; 
later  these  same  words  are  written  over 
and  over  in  serial  order  (in  sentence 
form)  to  build  up  power  of  rhythmical 
progression.  When  these  drills  have 
been  gone  through  with,  each  student 
grades  his  own  manuscript;  and  as  a 
penalty  for  each  error  committed,  ten 
words  are  deducted  from  the  total 
number  of  words  written.  This  re- 
mainder divided  by  ten  gives  the  net 
number  of  words  a  minute. 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence      23 

While  this  drill  is  intended  secondarily 
to  increase  speed  in  writing  through 
rhythmical  influence,  the  main  thought 
is  to  build  mental  control,  by  counting 
out  each  movement,  to  give  versatility. 
This  counting  out  practice  serves  the 
same  purpose  in  typewriting  that  re- 
hearsing a  song  or  an  oration  does  in 
singing  or  speaking.  This  habit  of 
versatility  grows;  it  becomes  a  matter 
of  habit;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  case 
of  a  juggler,  who  tosses  his  clubs,  or 
balls,  with  no  particular  thought  to  each 
movement. 

By  the  time  the  ninth  lesson  in  the 
text  has  been  covered,  figure  drills  are 
introduced.  Finger  control  over  figures 
is  acquired  just  as  logically  and  naturally 
as  control  over  letters,  if  the  practice 
is  properly  directed.  The  idea  is  to 
connect  each  figure  with  an  already 
acquired  habit  —  a  simple  application 
of  the  inductive  method  of  presentation. 

Practice,  in  order,  and  in  reverse  order, 


24  Mental  Control 

very  slowly  at  first,  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  each  followed  by  the  number 
immediately  below  in  whatever  series 
you  may  be  working;  and  space  once 
between  groups,  thus:  Series  i,  ai,  b2, 
C3,  etc.  to  z6;  or,  Series  5,  35,  b6,  07, 
to  zo;  or  again,  Series  10,  ao,  bl,  C2,  to 
Z5.  A  glance  at  the  table  will  show  that 
every  letter  of  the  alphabet  is  followed 
by  all  of  the  digits  and  the  cipher. 

When  sufficient  skill  has  been  acquired 
In  locating  figures  as  units  on  the  key- 
board, the  following  groups  should  be 
practiced  slowly  and  persistently  to 
translate  this  unit  thinking  into  group 
expression.  This  control  is  accomplished 
by  placing  the  letter  to  be  impressed, 
in  a  position  just  before  the  figure  to 
be  related.  Thus,  following  series  i,  2, 
3,  4  (which  give  the  digits  and  cipher 
in  regular  and  reverse  order  of  progres- 
sion), it  will  be  observed  in  series  5 
that  "x"  at  the  end  of  "affix"  comes 
next  to  "2"  in  the  group  "21597,"  and 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence       25 


N 

\o 

t^  00     ON    0 

i-H     M     to    ■<*• 

UO 

>> 

10 

^     t^  00     On 

0     >-'     M     CO 

Tf 

y. 

■<1- 

ur,  NO     t^  00 

ON    0     ►-     r< 

CO 

■$■ 

co 

■<^   u-i  NO     «^ 

00     On    0     " 

6< 

> 

N 

cr>    ■<*•    un  NO 

r^  00     On    0 

" 

3 

« 

r<     c<^-«l-LnNO     t^oo     On 

0 

w 

0 

l-l      c<      C^     -"l- 

"1  NO       t-^    00 

Os 

« 

0 

0      ►-<      M      CO 

■<i-    U-)  NO     t^ 

00 

u 

00 

On    0     "     M 

CO     -^     LO  NO 

ts 

cr 

«^ 

00     On    0     >-i 

CJ     CO    Ti-   Lo  NO 

0. 

VO 

l-^  00     On    0 

"      C4      CO    Tj- 

VO 

0 

u-1  >>o    1-^  00     0 

0       "H       C-J       CO 

'i- 

c 

Tf 

u^  NO    r--  00 

On    0      «      C< 

CO 

E 

0 

Tj-     1/-1  NO       t^ 

00     On    0     1-1 

C4 

- 

N 

C<^     tI-     LO  NO 

rs  00     On    0 

HH 

-i« 

HH 

«     c^-«t-i-r>NO     1^00     On 

0 

•- 

0 

>-i     M     m    -^ 

"^  NO      ts.   00 

On 

•- 

0 

0     "-1     N     0 

-l-    u^  NO     ts  00 

Ji 

00 

ON    0     «     « 

CO     ■*     iri  NO 

rs 

M 

»~^ 

CO      0^    0      w 

r)     CO    rh    uo 

NO 

<-t-i 

VO 

Is.  00     On    0 

1-1      04      CO     -^ 

^-n 

V 

irl 

NO      t^    00       ON 

0      i-i      N      CO 

-* 

-a 

^ 

>J^  NO     1-^  00 

ON     0       >-<       C< 

CO 

U 

r<^ 

Th     iri  NO       ts 

00     On   0     « 

ot 

^ 

M 

C<-1     ■*     "■    NO 

t^  00     On    0 

- 

fS 

C-»       r^     Tl-     U-1 

NO     l^  00     On 

0 

t/2 

1 

c<     rr,    Tj-    ly-i 

NO     t^  00     On 

0 

26 


Mental  Control 


•'a"  "s"  **d"  and  *'f,"  following  in  suc- 
cession at  the  end  of  the  words  "medio," 
*' vices,"  "would,"  "gruff,"  all  occur 
before  "2"  which  is  the  key  figure  to 
the  group  of  figures,  "21597."  You  will 
notice,  too,  that  the  endings  of  all  these 
words  are  selected  with  a  view  to  cover 
that  section  of  the  keyboard  immedi- 
ately underneath  the  figures  to  be  se- 
lected, just  as  fully  as  possible. 


1. 

throb 

12346 

frown 

12346 

fling 

12346 

leash 

12345 

light 

12346 

2. 

mealy 

67890 

cliff 

67890 

water 

67890 

board 

67890 

glide 

67890 

3. 

relax 

09876 

waltz 

09876 

cilia 

09876 

stays 

09876 

below 

09876 

4. 

serum 

54321 

adieu 

54321 

stack 

64321 

alibi 

54321 

tango 

54321 

5. 

affix 

21597 

media 

21597 

vices 

21697 

would 

21597 

gruff 

21597 

6. 

sling 

20486 

sinew 

20486 

grave 

20486 

finer 

20486 

mount 

20486 

7. 

borax 

31245 

opera 

31245 

mills 

31246 

fried 

31245 

cliff 

31245 

8. 

shrug 

39876 

squaw 

39876 

guise 

39876 

furor 

39876 

snort 

39876 

9. 

cynic 

42395 

ultra 

42395 

heels 

42396 

could 

42395 

grief 

42395 

Through  Rhythmical  Influence       27 


10.  fling 
tutor 

11.  topic 
hound 

12.  sting 
minor 

13.  rheum 
black 

14.  swamp 
adieu 

16.  idiom 
smirk 

16.  crisp 
noyau 

17.  odiimi 
pluck 

18.  crisp 
perdu 

19.  swarm 
brick 

20.  trump 
adieu 


41086 

throw 

41086 

where  41088 

41086 

sight 

41086 

52198 

larva 

02198 

firms 

62198 

62198 

brief 

52198 

63476 

squaw 

63476 

adage 

63476 

53476 

sport 

53476 

62457 

oaken 

62457 

medal  62457 

62457 

hunch 

62457 

63108 

cargo 

63108 

genii 

63108 

63108 

decay 

63108 

70946 

baron 

70946 

rival 

70946 

70946 

faith 

70946 

71385 

curio 

71385 

radii 

71385 

71385 

filmy 

71385 

83507 

grain 

83507 

stUl 

83507 

83507 

leash 

83507 

82496 

piano 

82496 

vilU 

82496 

82496 

gaily 

82496 

91082 

wagon 

91082 

vital 

91082 

91082 

reach 

91082 

93756 

bravo 

93756 

rabbi 

93756 

93766 

spicy 

93766 

SUGGESTIONS    FOR    RHYTHMICAL    ALPHA- 
BETICAL   SCALE    PRACTICE 

1.  Practice  the  alphabetical  scale  in 
the  regular  and  reverse  order,  without 
spacing. 

2.  Then  practice  the  alphabet  in 
groups,  spacing  once. 


28  Mental  Control 

{a)  ab  cd  ed  gh  ij  kl  inn  op  qr  st  uv  wx  yz 

(b)  zy  wx  vu  ts  rq  po  nm  Ik  ji  hg  fe  dc  ba 

(c)  abc  def  ghi  jkl  mno  pqr  stu  vwx  yza 
{d)  azy  xwv  uts  rgp  onm  Ijk  ihg  fed  bca 
(c)  abed  efgh  ijkl  mnop  qrst  uvwx  yzab 
(/)  bazy  xwvu  tsqr  ponm  Ikji  hgfe  dcba 
(g)  abcde  fghij  klmno  pqrst  uvwxy  zabcd 
ih)  dcbaz  yxwvu  tsrqp  onmlk  jighf  edcba 

3.  Hold  down  the  shift  key  and  prac- 
tice the  alphabet  in  regular,  and  reverse 
order,  without  spacing. 

4.  Hold  down  shift  key  with  the  little 
finger  of  the  left  hand,  and  practice  the 
alphabet  as  shown  above  {a)  to  {h)  in- 
clusive; but  release  the  shift  key  each 
time  when  spacing. 

The  object  of  these  drills  is  to  de- 
velop skill  in  manipulating  the  keys  and 
the  shift  key  and  to  give  alertness  of 
mind  and  dexterity  of  hand  to  adjust 
quickly  to  any  syllabic  division  in  a 
word,  just  as  scale  practice  on  a  musical 
instrument  gives  power  to  handle  con- 
stantly changing  arrangements  of  notes 
in  a  musical  passage. 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence       29 

CO-ORDINATION    DRILL   IN   THE    USE 
OF    PUNCTUATION    MARKS 

"  Is  that  that,  that  that,  that  they  say  that  that 
is?  No  !  That  that,  is  not  that  that,  that  they 
say  that  that  is  ;  but:  (1)  that  that,  that  we  think 
that  that  is,  is  (2)  that  that." 

THE    SENTENCE    UNIT 

By  the  time  the  theory  of  the  text 
has  been  completed,  he  will  have  pro- 
gressed sufficiently  in  sentence  building 
to  be  able  to  think  connectedly.  His 
mind  center  has  changed  sufficiently  to 
enable  him  to  grasp  thought  expres- 
sion as  a  unit  rather  than  the  word  as 
a  unit;  therefore,  the  following  all- 
keyboard  sentences  which  have  been 
selected  from  various  sources,  are  in- 
troduced. Ten  minutes'  practice  from 
a  chart  is  devoted  to  these  sentences 
each  day  before  regular  work  is  taken 
Up.  The  student  is  required  to  check 
his   own   work,   and   to   pass   it   in   for 


30  Mental  Control 

criticism.     Later  it   is   passed   back  to 
him. 

1.  The  boy  was  not  lazy  and  jumped  up  quickly 
before  the  box  gave  way. 

2.  My  help  squeezed  in  and  joined  the  weavers 
again  before  six  o'clock. 

3.  They  provoked  a  quarrel  by  jealously  mixing 
a  few  jet  black  cats. 

4.  You  spoke  about  having  a  ten  quart  zinc  box 
joined  firmly  forward. 

5.  Whenever  the  black  fox  jumped,  the  squirrel 
gazed  very  suspiciously. 

6.  We  dislike  to  exchange  job  lots  of  sizes 
varying  from  a  quarter  up. 

7.  The  judicious  advocate  will  never  forget  that 
a  good  cause  may  be  quickly  lost  by  too  much  zeal. 

8.  Dazzling  jewels,  pendant  from  her  neck, 
were  thrown  quite  in  the  shadow  by  exceeding  wit, 
which  ever  flashed  from  her  brilliant  mind. 

9.  Old  and  quaint  maxims  filled  the  pages  of 
that  very  curious  book,  on  which,  with  quiet  joy, 
he  gazed  for  hours  together. 

10.  The  lazy,  brown-eyed  lynx  often  jumps 
quickly  from  its  lair  over  a  log. 

11.  Young  quails  were  baked  for  the  buxom 
lady  from  Xenia,  she  also  has  a  cup  of  coffee. 

12.  "Please,  sir,"  she  said,  "I  have  54,067 
boxes  of  quails  and  2385  crates  of  coffee." 

13.  Just  after  making  queer  discoveries  the  ex- 
plorer was  frozen  in  his  big  kayak. 

14.  With  a  qualm  the  jolly  first  mate  expected 
a  song  about  the  greasy  viking. 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence       31 

16.  The  composer  White  just  managed  to  see 
a  convict  quickly  fix  the  buzz  saw. 

16.  The  lazy  queen  who  expected  to  live  by 
working  very  Uttle  jammed  her  fingers. 

17.  The  question  of  prizes  was  fixed  up  with 
the  government  and  the  Black  jury. 

18.  My  Exide  truck  will  probably  haul  a  dozen 
loads  of  gravel  just  as  quickly. 

19.  Joe  asserted  that  the  quick  brown  fox  slyly 
jxunped  over  the  lazy  dog. 


ALL-KEYBOARD    LETTER 

Union  City,  Tennessee 
January  10,  1920 
Messrs.  D.  B.  Ibsen  &  T.  Z.  Quixly 

Louisville,  Kentucky 
Gentlemen: 

In  confirming  our  message  of  yesterday  —  **  Ac- 
cept offer  450  barrels  *  Young  &  Osgood  CCC,'  like 
sample  at  $6.37 "  —  let  us  urge  immediate  ship- 
ment: and  send  bill  to  Ashton  &  Vance,  c/o  Hous- 
ton Station,  So.  York  St.,  this  city. 

C.  M.  &  St.  P.  R.  R.  car  #6336,  and  C.  &  N.  W. 
R.  R.  car  #7385  are  in;  but  we  find  one  car  fully 
25%  below  grade,  due  to  dampness  gathered  in 
a  leaky  car.  We  shall  probably  have  time  to- 
morrow to  make  a  thorough  examination,  and  will 
report  fully  Friday  or  Saturday. 

We  can  furnish  clean  new  barrels  in  car  lots, 
£.  o.  b.  our  siding:  Gum  @  37^;  Red  Oak  @  29i; 
Hickory    @   461.     We   can   supply   unbranded, 


32  Mental  Control 

"  Virginia  "  Jute  Sacks,  sewed,  @  5^  in  quantity 
lots:  seamless  cotton  sacks  (bianded  "  XXXX  "), 
@  19^  in  lots  of  500  or  more. 

At  what  can  you  furnish  shelled  com  in  car  lots? 
Very  truly  yours, 
E.  L.  PAXTON   &  CO.  (Lunited) 

By 

Audiior 
ABP/ZUK 
(inclosure) 


THE    PARAGRAPH    UNIT 

By  the  time  these  sentences  have 
been  standardized  in  his  Hfe,  his  mind 
center  again  has  changed  from  a  single 
sentence,  as  a  unit,  to  the  paragraph  as 
a  unit.  At  this  point  the  all-keyboard 
business  letter,  shown  below,  is  intro- 
duced. At  least  one  copy  each  day 
should  be  written  till  fifty  perfect  copies 
shall  have  been  completed. 

Then,  from  this  point  on,  ten  minutes 
is  devoted,  the  first  part  of  each  inter- 
val, to  writing  Underwood,  Remington, 
and  other  similar  typewriting  drills,  in 
connection  with  speed  drills  of  the  text. 


Through  Rhythmical  Influence       33 

Direct  dictation  from  these  exercises  is 
stressed  to  give  the  student  adapta- 
bihty.  By  the  time  tabulating,  bilHng, 
law  forms,  shall  have  been  completed 
in  the  text,  the  student  has  gained  such 
mastery  over  the  keys,  through  mental 
control  under  rhythmical  influence,  that 
he  can  write  with  the  same  facility,  ac- 
curacy, clearness  that  he  can  speak. 
He  has  made  the  machine  subservient 
to  hand  control;  and  his  hands,  through 
autosuggestion,  are  completely  subser- 
vient to  mental  control.  As  he  thinks, 
so  does  he  act. 

Now,  let  us  pick  up  the  various  threads 
of  argument  that  we  have  gone  through 
and  weave  them  into  some  practical 
conclusions  as  to  what  is  gained  by 
learning  touch  typewriting  by  the  fore- 
going method. 

Aside  from  the  art  of  typewriting  he 
has  gained  mental  control  that  may  be 
translated  into  other  conduct:  (i)  He 
has   unified   in   his   Hfe  one   particular 


34  Mental  Control 

thing  that  serves  well  as  a  standard  by 
which  to  gauge  other  things;  (2)  he 
has  kindled  desire  to  excel;  (3)  he  has 
learned  many  things  about  form;  (4)  he 
has  whetted  his  will  to  overcome  ob- 
stacles through  patience  and  persistence; 
(5)  he  has  developed  observation  that 
has  a  vital  bearing  on  all  mental 
processes;  (6)  he  has  acquired  con- 
centration —  the  complete  giving  over 
of  self  for  the  time  being  to  one  particu- 
lar aim  —  which  intensifies  all  effort. 

And,  note  carefully,  all  of  these  spring 
from  a  mental  state  that  is  built  up 
under  Rhythmical  Influence.  It  seems 
perfectly  logical  to  conclude,  then,  that 
mental  control  through  rhythmical  in- 
fluence is  the  Secret  of  Touch  Type- 
writing. 


-  42779 


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